Playing Good Cop / Bad Cop with Content Marketing Clients and Expectations

BILL BELEW IS A CONTENT MARKETING EXPERT BASED IN THE BAY AREA OF SILICON VALLEY. YOU FOUND HIM; HE CAN TEACH YOU AND YOUR BUSINESS HOW TO BE FOUND. CONTACT HIM BY USING THE COMMENT FORM BELOW.

There’s a reason why kids have two parents.

Invariably one parent will be good cop and the other bad cop.

Businesses need to have at least 2 partners as well.

Good Cop Bad Cop

It comes natural to me to be hard on myself. I can remember when I was running my school in Japan at the end of the last millennium. A new batch of teachers came to work for me. During the introduction to the company I remember saying something along the lines, “If there is an easy way and a hard way to do something, I will always choose the hard way. That way I will always be able to back off if I must and still get some real results.”

I am pretty hard on myself. And that’s excusable. What may not be excusable is that I am hard on my clients as well. Or I could be when they stick around long enough.

Long and Hard

I try to paint a not-so-rosy picture. A road fraught with obstacles, that to be sure can be overcome. I tell my clients it will be hard but doable. The work will take a long time to come to fruition but indeed they will see a long residual. I think I am just being realistic.

“Hello!? Hello!? Is anybody there?”

Talking to Myself

It’s about this time that I often find myself talking to myself. In the interest of being ‘real’ I come across too harsh.

This is where I am in need of a partner, someone to tell me when to back off and to let the client know that results can be achieved. A project manager maybe. I just tend to yell louder.

Finding the Balance

I believe in hard work. I need someone next to me to teach how to work smart, too

When it comes time to do something big, something life altering, be sure you will need in your corner a good cop – someone telling you how to be smart AND a bad cop, telling you the road is long and hard and setting the pace by example.

Conclusion

Find someone to be a good cop to your bad cop and you are likely to get your best results.

Who is your good cop? Who is your bad cop? Tell me in the comments. I am interested.

Contact me in the comments or by inmail and l can be your bad cop.

BILL BELEW IS A CONTENT MARKETING EXPERT BASED IN THE BAY AREA OF SILICON VALLEY. YOU FOUND HIM; HE CAN TEACH YOU AND YOUR BUSINESS HOW TO BE FOUND. CONTACT HIM BY USING THE COMMENT FORM BELOW.

About the author

Bill Belew

Professional Blogger, social media marketer, professor of marketing, influencer marketer, Christian and dad.